Christian Montgomery

EDU 220
PEPSI Screening
Ryan Faircloth

Biography
 Ryan is a male 9-year-old in 3rd grade in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ryan is a skinny,

tall boy who enjoys the average things that many boys do. He has a very wealthy

family, which consists of a father, mother, sister, two actively involved

grandparents, and two dogs. As I stated before his body type is skinny, and tall, but

not unhealthy. In talking to his parents I was told his breakfast and lunch diet are

extremely controlled by them. His sister told me that for dinner he decides what he

eats, and is very picky. He refuses to most meat products, but will eat some in

certain forms. For example, he will happily eat chicken nuggets, but will verbally

and physically act out if given chicken breast. Ryan does do things that facilitate his

physical development with after school karate, and walking around the

neighborhood with his grandparents.

Emotionally I was given a very spotty history of acting out and not being able

to handle certain things. I will get into more detail later, but in speaking to the

parents and the sister I was told that his puppy died a little over a year ago, hes

gone through the death of great grandpa, gone through the process of being teased

with several new dogs because of his families allergies to certain breeds, and has

experienced much success at school which is a great boost to his confidence and

ego. In speaking to Ryan I noticed that he does not look men in the eyes, but will

speak with authority towards women. He also has trouble speaking in consistent

sentences, and allowing people to speak about their topics rather than his.

Ryans history of what is right and what is wrong seems to be spotted as well.

While he does have a group of friends that he sees almost daily, he seems to be

very quick to throw them under the bus rather than stick up for them. He also has a

history of outright lying and still defending the lie, even after he has been caught. A

very interesting factor I was given was that in the past he seems to not accept
things that he doesnt understand, and for that he doesnt have a great grasp of

what is wrong and what is right, this seems to also connect to the way he talks to

women.

Socially and intellectually Ryan seems to do very well, but be a little behind in

certain topics. When he is with his group of friends he is very social and active, but

being around new people I was told that he becomes very shy, even going as far as

to physically hide behind his parents. He has a bad history of acting out against his

older sister even when she is given control over him while the parents are out. In

terms of intellectual development Ryan does extremely well, he seems to be able to

break things down in his head when solving problems without having to talk it out or

write things down. He has a strong understanding of how tools and objects work,

when given a new item he simply asked questions and was very careful to touch the

buttons or experiment with the item. I was told that in terms of understanding the

situation around him his parents are a little worried. Ryan seems to not understand

schedules, appointments, or anything that would interfere with his daily routine.

P-Physical

Ryan is a relatively healthy child with a spotty diet. Unlike most children at his

age he seems to not have a real understanding of proper foods or meal planning.

This could stem from the fact that his parents control his diet during the day, but

begin to give him control as the day goes on. This would somewhat support our text

reading. Jack Snowman writes there is a greater tendency for them (children) to

overeat, particularly junk food. (Snowman, 2015 p.g 88) Ryan seems to love eating

certain foods, but hate others. This doesnt seem to affect his overall health though,

as he keeps a very slim and boney body. He does seem to have a relatively active
lifestyle in terms of running around with the family dogs, and going to afterschool

karate. This follows the stereotype of boys enjoying more physical activities as

stated in the text. (Snowman, 2015 p.g 88)

In terms of physical awareness Ryan is just beginning to understand the

physical world around him. His care for the opposite sex seems to be non-existent,

but he does understand what makes boys and girls different and why. In terms of his

own physical awareness or care, he seems to have just started caring about things

like showering, clothing, and his overall personal appearance. In speaking to his

sister, she told me that it was just recently that he started caring about the way his

hair was done, but he still refuses to take showers and doesnt care what he looks

like. His sister also told me that his father seems to also not care about his

appearance and gets annoyed when his mother tries to dress him or talk about

buying him new clothes. There seems to be a direct correlation between the father

and Ryan resenting physical appearance. As stated in an article written by Katherine

Lee, When parents make physical fitness, healthy food, and positive attitudes

about weight and body image a priority, they set a good example for their children

to follow. (Lee, 2016 verywell.com)

E-Emotional

As stated and connected to with physical awareness, his self-esteem and self-

description seem to go hand in hand. When asked to describe himself Ryan then

began to stutter and give me nonspecific answers. Saying things like I dont know,

I cant think of anything, and even changed the subject. It appears there maybe

little to no self esteem, or based on his other behavior maybe he just doesnt care

about his self-description yet. In talking to his family I was told that he has become
extremely competitive when it comes to accolades or praise. If somebody gets

praise in front of him, he makes it a point to praise himself out loud as well. This

seems to coincide with our text, because competition and individualism are highly

prized values in many Western cultures, children will naturally compare themselves

with one another. (Snowman, 2015 p.g 91) Ryan although has not developed his

physical need for competition like winning trophies or beating somebody at

something, but that seems to be budding and should be developed more as he gets

further into his karate.

In terms of actual emotional control, Ryan seems to have many patterns that

have frightened the people around him, but not his parents. In speaking to the

parents I was told that he is a gentleman, polite, and listens very well. Then in

speaking with his sister and grandparents I was told a completely different side. I

was told that Ryan repeatedly get in trouble at school for outbursts of anger when

he is challenged or told he is wrong. Further into his anger control, I was told that if

he is given even the slightest bit of chores or home responsibility he will then

scream and argue with his mother and even demand that she shut up. Over time

his anger has gotten to be worse, at first he would just yell and scream, but now he

apparently will start demanding and threatening his mother if she doesnt listen to

him. In my time spent with Ryan I found evidence defending the claims of the sister

and grandparents, the sister had to step out for a moment and couldnt take the

dogs outside, when the mother asked Ryan to do it he refused and ran off. This lead

to an argument where Ryan said he would tell the father that the mother is

disrespecting him and being a jerk. This behavior and overall attitude towards

women can be directly correlated to our text in talking about disruptive family

relationships. (Snowman, 2015 chapter 3)

 Ryan seems to have been conditioned to disrespect women and give all

respect to males. In speaking to the grandparents I was told that Ryan has

consistently had problems listening to female teacher at school. At home he

behaves perfectly fine when the father is around, but after the father leaves Ryan

assumes the position of power and authority has shifted to himself rather than the

mother or older sister. The mother also does not punish Ryan because when the

father gets home he takes Ryan out of punishment, the mother has resorted to just

waiting for the father to get home and telling him to punish Ryan. Apparently, this

has led to court case like appeals by Ryan and the mother, with the father acting as

judge. This would lead me to believe that the father is facilitating the disrespect and

disdain of women authority and nurturing his anger towards the opposite sex and

the overall act of things not going Ryans way. Our text states Gerald Patterson,

Barbara DeBaryshe, and Elizabeth Ramsey (1989) marshal a wide array of evidence

to support their belief that delinquent behavior is the result of a causal chain of

events that originates with dysfunctional parent-child relationships. (Snowman,

2015 p.g 91) The mother and Ryans relationship seems to be deteriorating and will

eventually get worse as he gets older and enters his teenage years.

P-Philosophical

As stated before Ryan has a clear understanding of personal praise and public

praise. What he seems to lack is the understanding of how to get that praise. For

example, if somebody has just won a footrace and is getting praise for it, Ryan has

been known to yell out well Im taller than him. It appears Ryan has a past of

getting praise for uncontrollable factors like height and looks, but has not developed

the understanding of how to get praise for improvable talents like running, catching,

and throwing. This also coincides with what I said earlier that it appears his need for
physical competition has not developed yet, but rather his need for praise and

accolades that one would acquire for being proficient in those areas. Our text

provides support with If children at this stage are encouraged to make and do

things well, helped to persevere, allowed to finish tasks, and praised for trying,

industry results, it appears that Ryan has not been encouraged to do these things

and is now just learning how to get to those results. (Snowman, 2015 p.g 29)

Ryan also has a very interesting understanding of morality. In his mind if he

believes it to be right or wrong, he will refuse to be corrected and will have

outbursts of anger. A branch of this is the fact that he will strongly defend any lie

with full confidence. For example, during one of the times I was at the house Ryan

refused to let the dogs out, one of the dogs urinated on the carpet. When he was

confronted by both parents about letting the dogs out he claimed he had done it,

obviously, he was lying and they knew it, but he stood his ground. When talked to

by the mother later, Ryan said claimed he shouldnt have to let the dogs out

because he doesnt have to listen to the mother and therefore shouldnt have to

take the dogs out, all while still defending his claim that he in fact had taken the

dogs out. I believe Ryan is showing a complete defiance of Kohlbergs Six Stages of

Moral Reasoning, starting with the first of punishment-obedience orientation.

(Snowman, 2015 p.g 61) Ryan has very little to no understanding of consequences

or repercussions, if he believes he is in the right, then he will not be told differently

and will not accept punishment. The next one, and the most obvious one is his

rejection of stage 3, the good boy- nice girl orientation.(Snowman, 2015 p.g 61)

Ryan does not get praise for telling the truth, and does not get punished for lying.

Instead the argument plays out, and then nothing happens after the argument is

over. Ryan doesnt have to worry about punishments or repercussions, therefore he

does not understand them and does not think of them when making defiant

decisions.

S-Social

In speaking to his family Ryan has shown very strong signs of behaving the

same as the kids in his group of friends. If one of his friends does something or likes

something new, then Ryan must immediately do the same. Ryan also seems to put

the respect of his friends above all else as well. When he is with his friends and is

told to do something he immediately talks back in hopes of making his friends

laugh, without worrying about his familys feelings or views. This is an expected trait

in most children as stated in our text, children feel the need to be accepted and

supported by their group of friends rather than their families. (Snowman p.g 90)

A very positive note is the type of children in Ryans group, all high achievers

in school. This is great that Ryan has surrounded himself with motivated children

because they will in turn motivate him to do better in life. Within this group is a girl,

this contradicts most stereotypes and our text (Snowman, 2015 p.g 90) that say

boys stick with boys and girls stick with girls. Another interesting factor of this, as

stated earlier Ryan does not seem to have any interest in girls, this doesnt mean

hes shy around them, just simply doesnt care about them romantically. The girl in

his group is treated the same as the other boys, Ryan doesnt treat her differently

because he doesnt view her differently. This is a very small factor that will probably

change over time, but it is very contradictory and somewhat rare to see young boys

and girls getting along on a gender irrelevant friendship.

I-Intellect
 Ryan has a very strong understanding of logic and breaking things down. His

ability to break factors down to solve problems is extremely strong and quick. When

giving him a word problem of my own that I have given other children even older

than him, he could break it down into parts in his head, and answer very quickly.

Our text states But the same is not true for tasks that require such advanced

memory processes as elaboration and organization. When asked to sort a set of

pictures into categories, for example, elementary grade children create fewer and

more idiosyncratic categories. (Snowman, 2015 p.g 92) This is clearly not applying

to Ryan as his ability to elaborate and organize factors in his head seems to be

second nature to him at this point.

When it comes to understanding and awareness Ryan also seems to be

somewhat advanced. Our text states that children are usually concrete-stage

thinkers (Snowman, 2015 p.g 92) at his age, but Ryans ability to think and

understand would seemingly be more fluid. He can understand metaphors and un-

said facts, for example, Ryan completely understood when a serious moment was

happening he was supposed to be quiet to allow things to happen rather than talk

or make loud noises. Another factor that sticks out from the text is that children at

his level cannot understand sarcasm. Well, not only does Ryan understand sarcasm

but he himself is sarcastic toward his family. Ryan seems to have a very strong

understanding of social and intellectual circumstances that are much more

advanced than other children his age. (Snowman, 2015 p.g 92)
 PEPSI CHART
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0
P E P S I

Column1 Average level of a 9 year old

 The chart I have created shows where I believe Ryan is developmentally. In

terms of his physical development Ryan is average, his body is thin, but its not

unhealthy. His body isnt producing much fat which is good considering his eating

habits sometimes, and he is actively participating in a physical after school activity.

His emotional and philosophical development seems to be behind. As stated he

doesnt seem to have much control over his anger and sometimes relies on his

outbursts to win an argument. He also has a very skewed understanding of right

and wrong. If he believes its right, then its right and he wont be told differently.

Most children at this age understand right and wrong and at least have a basic

understanding of how to show emotions and hold them in when needed. His social

development is slightly above average in my opinion. Ryan understands the

difference between boys and girls, but doesnt seem to care. He has a girl in his

group of friends and gets along with her just as well as he does other boys. Most

children tend to stick to their own gender, and if confronted with the opposite

gender will sometime be shy or act out. Finally, his intellectual development is

above average in just about every way. He solves puzzles very easily and can even

repeat them back with full explanations of how he got his answer. Ryan can take

topics and relate them to others, which is critical to him understanding what is

going on in certain situations and can hold conversations with people above his age

and level.

Recommendations

I would recommend that Ryan not change his physical day to day life. He

seems to be developing at the average rate and has just now begun to develop
interest in sports and physical activities. Later, in life he should be encouraged to

play sports of some kind to build and develop some muscle, but that can be a few

years down the line and isnt a problem now. In terms of his diet, I personally would

say he needs to be taught about the importance of how food affects a persons

body. Ryan doesnt seem to understand what things like candy and fast food can do

to somebodys body, so he feels no need to stop eating it. As he is given more

control over his diet like most children are at his age, I would advise monitoring him

to keep him from gaining mass amounts of weight and changing his body

composition.

Emotionally I feel Ryan is severely stunted and could lead down to future

emotional problems. Ryan seems to either not have any control over his anger, or

purposely uses his anger to win arguments or get his way. This is troubling as

children at his age should be being taught how to act respectfully and control their

outbursts. This could lead to future problems as Ryan gets older and could even

branch off into physical problems once Ryans anger gets to a point where he needs

to express it in a more open way. I would recommend that Ryan be given less

control in his household to be humbled. Ryan does not see the need to control his

anger because he feels like he doesnt need to. This is a result of his parents

allowing his explosions to go unpunished or un attended to. Ryan could also make a

lot of progress if his parents starting talking to him about his emotions instead of

walking away when his emotions bubble over.

Philosophically Ryan seems to also very behind in his development. This

seems to branch out from his emotional issues, but he does not have a strong

understanding of consequences or morality. My recommendation for this is that

Ryan be treated as a child rather than an equal or even above his mother. Ryan
does not feel the need to respect his mother which then branches out to his respect

of all women. Ryan needs to be disciplined by his mother and his father needs to

respect his mothers decisions and support them. Ryan is a smart child and can

clearly pick up on things I do not think his parents realize theyre doing, this results

in him having negative responses to responsibilities, being talked down to, and

lying. Ryan needs an immediate lesson and conversation about lying and needs to

be explained to about what kind of punishments can be enforced if he doesnt follow

the rules.

Socially Ryan is doing very well. He seems to have a lot of friends outside of

his consistent group of friends. Ryan has a wide variety of friends between both

genders and different races. He doesnt seem to be bias towards anybodys physical

features, which is well above even some adults. I would recommend that his parents

support and nurture this great factor, as it well most likely change as Ryan gets

older. He should be encouraged to make more and more friends and to never care

about their physical features. I will say as a negative, Ryan seems to act out even

more whenever his friends are present. He should be explained to that while his

friends are around the rules are relaxed, but he still needs to show respect and care

towards his family.

Finally, intellectually I believe Ryan is very advanced and ahead of his

development. His parents and family around him should be consistently challenging

him to advanced conversations with many layers and presenting him with

meaningful problems of logic. Ryan should be encouraged to take part in activities

such as mystery or puzzle solving and maybe even in heavy thinking activities such

as chess.
References

Snowman, J. (2014). Psychology applied to teaching. Place of publication not

identified: Cengage Learning.

Lee, K. (2016, April 27). Physical Development of a 9-Year-Old: What to Expect.

Retrieved from https://www.verywell.com/your-9-year-old-child-physical-

development-620709

Ellsworth, J. (n.d.). Pepsi: Developing the Whole Person. Retrieved from

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/essentials/reading1-1-1.html